Shoppers browse through out the newly opened Shinola store -- a Detroit-based maker of watches, bikes and leather goods -- in Midtown Detroit last June.

Written by

John Gallagher
Gannett Michigan

Optimists about Michigan's labor market can point to people like Jasmyn Bailey as reason for hope.

Bailey, 24, of Detroit used to work as a minimum-wage cleaner "living paycheck-to-paycheck and just getting by every day" before finding a job last July at the new Whole Foods store in Midtown Detroit where she now works in the produce section. She was one of dozens of recent hires there, boosting the store's workforce from 92 when it opened in June to more than 150 today.

"I love it," Bailey said recently. "Come in with a great attitude, a good work ethic, you will more than likely move up to a better ...